CES 2021 Goes Virtual

New Show, Who Dis?

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) wisely switched to a virtual format this year, and while the event organizers did an excellent job, I knew that some of my favorite aspects of the CES experience would be missing.

For me, the biggest draw of CES is the opportunity to cut through the marketing hype and actually pick up and play with the latest products. If the Fyre Festival taught us anything, it’s a lot easier to create a stunning marketing video than it is to actually deliver a stunning product. The virtual format meant we basically had to settle for a series of marketing videos, rather than the opportunity to fully evaluate every product hands-on.

The Gear

There were some exciting announcements this year in the AR/VR industry, and here they are (in no particular order):

(Image courtesy Vuzix)

Vuzix continues to refine its offerings, ranging from very practical monocular devices to more futuristic smart glasses (currently dubbed: “Next Generation Smart Glasses”). It will be interesting to see how hard they try to push into consumer devices, a notoriously tricky market, versus riding their momentum in the industrial space.

(Image courtesy Lenovo)

Along the same lines, Lenovo announced the ThinkReality A3 Glasses, a product aimed at industrial users, with an interesting twist: the ability to tether them to a laptop to create up to five virtual monitors. These could be handy when business travel picks up again - who wouldn’t like to bring five monitors on the road with them and only have to pack a pair of glasses? I’m very interested to see how the actual experience compares to the video in terms of resolution/readability.

(Image courtesy Panasonic)

Panasonic showed off an update of their steampunk-looking VR glasses, with a few notable tech upgrades to display and tracking. It remains to be seen when/if these materialize as a product since Panasonic showed an earlier version at CES last year that was ultimately never released.

(Image courtesy CREAL)

CREAL demonstrated two new prototypes (one AR and one VR) of their light-field displays. While it will likely be many years before these types of displays are used in consumer products, the potential to create more comfortable and natural viewing experiences is definitely exciting.

(Image courtesy bHaptics - flying not included)

While the XR industry has mostly focused on displays and headsets, bHaptics released two new wearable vests that are designed to maximize the feels with multiple feedback points on the wearer’s torso. Their Tactsuit X40 packs 40 vibro-tactile motors (20 on the front and 20 on the back) and retails for $499. For the more budget-conscious VR enthusiast, they offer the X16, with 16 motors and a $299 price tag. I’m definitely looking forward to trying this out.

(Image courtesy Sony)

Finally, while not exactly “consumer electronics”, Sony announced plans for a series of immersive, VR concerts this year, initially kicking off with a Madison Beer concert available later this year for Oculus, Playstation VR, and others. The behind-the-scenes footage featuring motion capture and rendering with the Unreal Engine has me excited to see these types of events take the next step in 2021, and build on some of 2020’s more interesting virtual experiences.

That’s all for Meow

While CES 2021 was understandably missing some of the best of previous years, I have to admit it was awfully convenient to casually peruse the virtual booths from the comfort of my home office. It was a stark departure from the usual 20,000 steps/day through a sea of 300,000 tech enthusiasts.

Hopefully, by next year, CES can return to form. I’m looking forward to playing around with the latest gadgets, catching up with friends, and checking out the brand new Meow Wolf AREA15!